So It's War & 2 of the 3 Have Nuclear Weapons

Sometimes, you can see disaster coming from a mile away, but you can’t avoid it, the proverbial train can’t be shifted off the tracks. That’s how it felt when over the weekend America bombed Iran, launching an illegal, preemptive and offensive war.

The Trump administration has been signaling for weeks that its intentions were to attack the country, setting up arbitrary deadlines, undermining negotiations, and generally trying to whip up hysteria around nuclear weapons, despite the Unite States own Intelligence Agencies having no intelligence to suggest Iran was seeking one. The whole situation is eerily similar to the War in Iraq, but in usual Trump regime fashion, faster and more stupid and likely with worse consequences for everyone.

Trump truly must think us a people without memory to illegally engage this country so quickly in such a massive conflict after the debacles of Iraq and Afghanistan, killing hundreds of thousands, displacing millions, wasting trillions of dollars, and causing untold environmental damage. Announced temporary ceasefire aside, the coming regime change war in Iran will almost certainly be more costly in every dimension.

Many think Trump must have been tricked into such a costly blunder by Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu, and while that may have played a role we must remember that Trump has for years, thought that wars always help presidencies. Trump even asserted that Obama would start a war with Iran to boost his poll numbers and distract from any troubles at home.

It is a very good distraction, taking all the media attention away from the massively harmful, illegal, and unpopular activities Trump is still committing at home. It can sow distrust and division among the populace, fueling anti-muslim and anti-semitic activity, just like the administration wants.  But in this case Trump may have made a mistake thinking that this war would be a political boon, because the American people Clearly don’t want it. 

Asked, “Do you want America to be at War with Iran”

No: 85%

Yes: 5%

Hard to get clearer than that. Trump’s poll numbers continue to drop as well with only 35% approving of his foreign policy. At a time when diplomacy is needed more than ever, Americans and the entire world, are seeing Trump use diplomacy as a ruse for war, instead of a bridge to build peace. The standard Trump and America are setting for the world is chilling, and unbelievably harmful.

This offensive war may be the beginning of the end for international treaties like the Nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The US is invading a NPT signatory (Iran) with no nuclear weapons, on behalf of a non-signatory to the NPT (Israel) that has nukes. For other countries, the logical lesson here is that having a nuclear weapon protects you from invasion, and the treaty means nothing.  When the Trump administration claim that this or that nation, including Iran, is developing a nuclear weapon, remember it was foreign policy choices like this recent US bombing that set the stage!

Trump’s actions are immoral, despicable, psychotic, foolish, and also illegal. Untold numbers of people, nature and treasure will be destroyed because his unilateral decision to go to war. He should be impeached for such a crime, and it’s good to see some democrats like AOC calling for Trump’s impeachment, even if there is little hope at the moment for such a tactic succeeding in the near term. We must continue to push for political accountability, but that alone won’t be enough to tip the scales of justice.

Part of the problem is that war is big business, so to get accountability for any of those responsible, it will take organizing economic and political power in concert. We need to make this war not just a political loser, but a financial one as well: not for the people but the warmongering elite. So join us each Tuesday in growing solidarity as we say no to offensive and illegal wars, and work for peace, and prosperity for all. Don't Shop on Tuesday! 

#DSOT